What is homebrewing and why is it good for me?

2 5 months ago

Craft beers had their renaissance around 10 years ago and their popularity hasn't dropped since then. People started to enjoy well-crafted beverages in contrast to mass-produced ones, this was the basic factor why homebrewing became intensely beloved among beer-enthusiastic circles.

Homebrewing is the perfect marriage of science and art. Making your own beer for non-commercial purposes, only for your and your friends’ pleasure, has a history longer than the commercial production of this drink although its legality has varied due to local regulation.

You may find this funny but we're not joking - homebrewing was a serious tradition in the history of brewing beer. Beer used to be homemade throughout its 7000-year history (here are some articles on brewing in the good old days) so the crafting has been mastered for sure during this long-long period. Brewing was often considered a part of baking by the Greeks and Romans, that's why beer making meant to be a task of women, while the Tang dynasty thought of it as a chore for all family members. It's perfectly clear by now: beer wasn't always the territory of men, right?

The Industrial Revolution brought us the thermometer and hydrometer, two essential tools that have helped increase efficiency and make mass production a reality. In 1857, Louis Pasteur has uncovered the secrets of fermentation by explaining the role of yeast in the procedure. The rest is history.

Homebrewing was regulated by taxation in the first half of the 20th century and sadly, it was followed by the Prohibition Law - all breweries were closed down across the United States, although some of them remained working illegal (aka. moonshine) until 1978 when homebrewing became legal again. Around that time, Charlie Papazian founded the Brewers Association, American Homebrewers Association and published the Bible of homebrewers (more than one million copies sold!): The Complete Joy of Homebrewing.

Since then, making our own beer in the comfort of our home became a fashionable and honoured activity. Mastering recipes like a full-bodied Porter or a pleasantly hoppy IPA became envied skills. Experimenting with styles, parameters, and routine - several facts emerged from this learning-through-observation method.

10 years ago you had to buy a huge brewing equipment to make your beer. You sacrificed your apartment, your free time (or even worse: your marriage) for storing kegs, fermentation tanks, cleaning your kit before and after every brew, and always being present to control the brewing process.

While developing an automated, all-in-one homebrewing machine, our main goal was to simplify the operation. The Brewie+ lets you focus on important issues other than brewing. Today, thanks to this machine, home brewing turned into a remarkable social experience with no annoying whatnots.